Candidate Achilleas Demetriades donates campaign minibus to dog shelter

Independent presidential candidate Achilleas Demetriades has donated the minibus he used for his election campaign to the non-governmental organisation which runs the dog shelter at Nicosia airport.

The donation was made in memory of his father, the late Nicosia mayor Lellos Demetriades, who would have celebrated his birthday on Friday.

Accompanied by members of his campaign team, he visited the dog shelter and spoke with volunteers there.

With his presence in the buffer zone, Demetriades also sent the message of the need to end the occupation and reunite Cyprus, “one and green, free of lines of division”, according to a statement from his campaign office.

He also urged everybody to exercise their right to vote in Sunday’s presidential elections and to cast their ballot with their heart and conscience, in support of the candidate who best represents them. He said: “We must reunite this country. We want one Cyprus and green, united, a Cyprus for all Cypriots which will be free of lines of division, where it will not be so difficult to come to this shelter.”

As to his visit to the shelter, Demetriades said: “In our effort to help, we brought a small donation of dog food which we have handed over, but more importantly and in memory of Lellos Demetriades, who would have celebrated his birthday today, I want to donate to the shelter our van, which you may have seen when we travelled all over Cyprus to present our views and positions. I think it can continue its work here. It will be useful for the needs here.”

Demetriades commended the work being carried out at the shelter for the past 25 years, as Cyprus faced a huge problem with abandoned dogs. “The effort here is commendable, it is a non-governmental organisation supported by volunteers and donations. The work being done here is impressive and I think it helps everyone in Cyprus understand what it means to care for animals that are abandoned. I hope the van will help you, as it has helped us,” he added.

Accepting the gift of the van on behalf of the NGO who runs the dog shelter, volunteer Neoclis Neocleous thanked Achilleas Demetriades, noting that the past few months the NGO has been collecting money to buy a vehicle.

Finally, Demetriades thanked the United Nations for hosting the dog shelter.